Gearin' Up To Go

Last week, Charl used his boat for the La Salle reinactment for Palacios on July 3rd. It was really pretty with the flags on it. A strong Southerly blew threw right when they were to do the reinactment. There was even a water spout sighting! All the fisherman raced into the marina in their boats. The reinactment finally took place around 3pm instead of 11am.

We made the decision last week to tie up loose ends and head on out of Palacios this weekend. We will be heading up the ICW toward Florida and eventually South. Brett has worked feverishly on getting projects done and I have spent extensive time reading and provisioning the boat with stores. I also was able to put up some of the insect screens on the hatches.

Brett installed a flexible water tank. He's added more shelves to the galley. He built a box to hold the utensils and silverware. He's reorganized everything in the cockpit as I did in the boat. We've spent 4 days cramming more and more into the 37 foot space. Though it looks cluttered, it's amazingly spacious. I bought enough supplies to last us about 1-2 months but we have very, very little money left to pay bills.... We are relying on Brett's ability to get a job and on my jewelry. We ended up bringing some of the show equipment and hope to find a show to sell at down the roa..waterway. We have ordered an inverter that will run our refrigerator. We didn't plan on a refrigerator but are hoping that it will work with the inverter so we can have cold beverages.

THE ESSENTIALS...

We did buy a french press and tea pot to keep our coffee addiction satisfied. I've spent the last six years planning and studying provisioning and continue to study Good Boatkeeping and Care and Feeding Of the Crew as I stuff pudding and rice in the hanging locker, toilet paper under the sink and spare lightbulbs in the bulkhead cabinets.

Our hammock over the sink is stuffed full of CLIFF bars, cinnamon rolls, pretzels, raisins and gingerbread men.

I have rearranged the hanging locker, tossing out the clothes onto the vee berth and putting canned food and extra food stores into it. The vee berth (our former bed) and the quarter berth (the bed behind the nav table that goes under the cockpit) are crammed full of thirteen sails, show equipment, our sewing machine and foul weather gear.

I bought supplies for a customized first aid kit. I used a makeup bag for storing it. This way we can only buy what we need and the amount we need, including important things (ie. finger splint) and leaving out the 300 bandages that come in regular kits.

I bought enough for our ICW trip and will buy more when we prepare to go offshore. (ie. syringes, iodine, CPR respiratube, enemas, etc)

We've bought seasickness remedies of three different types. I got a pr of seabands, Bonine and Dramamine (generic) because I don't know what will work best. I am hoping to get the behind-the-ear patches at the pharmacy here in town. I also stocked up Little Debbie's Gingerbread Men and GingerSnaps.

We also weren't able to find the "2nd Skin" burn pads at Walmart and I am hoping to find those here at the pharmacy as well. Otherwise, I may have to have someone mail them to us. Brett believes the 2nd Skins to be very important after his incident in Utah with massive blisters. (That's another story).

We sold the car to a fellow Oregonian for $100. The water pump had gone out. We bought a new water pump and she got that, too. What a deal. We are hoping to get the truck/camper sold by Saturday. We are snagging our mattress out of the camper -It is a memory foam mattress we bought at Walmart years ago and it's been wonderful for our backs. We plan to cut it up and use it for cockpit cushions!

Our friend, Eddie, who has given us many items already, generously gave us a a portable air conditioner and a 1500W generator to run it! We are strapping them down in the cockpit to use when it gets unbearably hot (particularly in the swamps of Lousiana). He has been great, like so many friends we've made here. The South really is hospitable and I would do anything for these lovely people we've befriended here in Palacios...

The only thing we haven't been able to get is a CQR anchor that we desperately want. A new one is about $700-1200 and a used one is running about $300. We're hoping to find one along the way to by cheap or trade for something.

We have three Danforth anchors but a CQR anchor is meant for mud and sand.





Both of us have struggled with bad backs for awhile. Mine has really been bad this last week. I think with some rest, it will eventually heal...

We lost our autopilot, it quit working and cannot be repaired. This was a big setback but we'll just keep moving forward. We have an amazing amount of hardware we did NOT think we'd have such as a wind generator, windvane, radar, inverter, refrigerator, and of course, the generator and air conditioner that Eddie just gave us. With all the gear, the poles, the dinghy, the bikes, the bbq, the windvane and other gadgets, our boat has definitely transformed into a cruiser.

We have been slowly saying Good Bye to our good friends. It has been impossible to accept the fact we are leaving our friends forever. I never knew it would be so hard. The people we've met here have been absolutely amazing....

Rebecca, Ann and their daughters made me the cutest gifts out of clay including clay cinnamon roll earrings, clay hippo earrings, fuschia glass earrings and little clay turtles. So cute and sweet! My friends are very sad and do NOT want us to leave... It's been incredibly difficult to say good-bye to them... They have been amazing friends... Everyone at ACE Hardware gave me a brilliant good-bye and lasting memories. Some of the greatest people I've ever met....

It's also been unbearable to say good-bye to Dennis... he has been phenomonal to us and helped us immensely with our goals. His support and graciousness have been amazing and his friendship will be greatly missed...

....

I'll write more soon... We will be anchoring or tying up at a marina every night as we head down the InterCoastal Waterway so we'll have our phone and hopefully some internet along the way...

Thank you ALL so much for your support that you've given us these last few years.

Stay tuned for more...